Safety appliance for mining cars



A. M. SHANDOR. SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR MINING CARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I0, I920.

Patented Oct. W, 1922..

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

attouwg APPLICATION FILEDMATL 10, 1920.

Patented Oct. W, 11922.

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ill-la 0 ANDREW M. SHANDOR, 01E LILLY, PENNSYLVANIA.

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Application filed March 10, 1920. Serial No. 364,675.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ANDREW M. SHANDOR, citizen of the United States, residing at Lilly, in the county of Oambria and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Appliances for Minin Cars, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to an improved safety appliance and an object of the invention is to provide a device of this character particularly adapted for use in connection with mining cars primarily to avoid accidents in case the ordinary brake mechanism becomes broken or otherwise inoperative and also to save time and labor.

While the design and construction at present illustrated and set forth is deemed preferable, it is obvious that as a result of a reduction of the invention to a more prac tical form for commercial purposes, the invention may be susceptible to changes, and the right to these changes is claimed, provided they are comprehended within the scope of what is claimed.

The invention comprises further features and combination of parts, as will be hereinafter set forth, shown inthe drawings an claimed. 7

1n the drawings: 1

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a pair of mining cars coupled together through the medium of the safety appliance,

Figure 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a sectional view on line 8-3 of Figure 1, it

Figure l is an enlarged detail perspective view of the safety appliance removed,

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail perspective view of the actuating means for the safety appliance,

Figure 6 is a View in side elevation of a pair of mining cars coupled together through the medium of the safety appliance, showing the I drag or abutment in a raised position out of engagement with the track, Figure 7 is a view in side elevation of a single mining car showing the safety applance thereon and illustrating the car on a down grade with the drag or abutment. in engagement with the ties of the track.

Referring more especially to these drawings, 1 deslgnates a conventional form of mining car and carried by one of the axles 2 of the car and movable withone of the supporting wheels 3 is a gear l. Mounted in bearings 5 of the bottom of the car is a shaft 6 also provided with supporting wheels and having a sleeve 6", which is provided with a gear 7. Integral with the sleeve 6 is a safety appliance or drag or abutment memher 8. This drag member comprises the parallel rods or bars 9 which are connected by a transverse rod 10. A coil spring 11 has one end attached to the bottom of the car and its other end connected at 12 to the transverse rod or bar 10. This spring constitutes means to hold the safety drag appliance or abutment normally in a raised position close to the bottom of the carto normally prevent the drag from engaging with the ties of the track.

Mounted upon the car is a guide 13 and mounted on the guide is a slide 14 provided with rack teeth 15 and 15. One end of the series of rack teeth at all times meshes with the teeth of the gear 7. The other end of the series of rack teeth of the slide 1 1 terminates a short distance from the teeth of the gear 4 thereby permitting the gear a to freely rotate with the supporting. wheel 3' as long as the safety appliance is inactive.

slide or rack 14 and is mounted in a guide bearing 17 and in surrounding relation to the rod and interposed between one end of the slide or rack and the guide bearing is an expansion spring 18. ivoted on the mining car as at 19 is a lever 20. One end of this lever 20 has a slot and pin connection 21 with the rod 16 and the other end of the lever has a slot and pin connection 22 with the lower'end of a second lever 23 which is pivotally mounted as at 24 upon one side of the car. The lever 23 is guided by the A rod 16 is connected to one end of the quadrant or segment rack 25 and on the ure 4), the safety drag appliance is held in a lowered position against the actionof the spring 11. Obviously when the lever 23 is moved to pull the rod 16 to the left in Figure 4, compressing the spring 18, the slide 14 will be moved in the opposite direction through the medium of the gear 7, thereby raising the safety drag appliance out of engagement with the tie, the spring 11 acting to also assist in raising the drag appliance. The tension of this coil spring when compressed is greater than the tension of the spring 11 so that when the spring 18 is permitted to expand it will overcome the action of the spring 11 and cause the slide 14 to actuate the gear 7 and, move the drag device to an inclined position so that itmay engage one of the ties of the track and hold the car in position on an inclined plane. The rod 16 in Figure 1 is shown as connected to a mining car in front by a conventional coupling as shown at 30. WV hen two cars are so coupled and they are ascending an inclined plane, the dog of the lever 23 is designed to be held normally out of engagement with the teeth of the segment rack or quadrant. This may be done by either holding the hand grip tight to the handle of the lever 23 or by throwing a pivoted loop 31 which is carried by the handle of the lever 23 in engagement with the hand grip. vVhen the two cars are ascending an inclined plane with the safety appliance raised and the rod 16 should become uncoupled from the car ahead, the

I spring 18 will act to move the rack or slide lated manually. When 14- in the direction of the arrow a (Figure 4) causingthe teeth thereof to actuate the gear 7 and throw the drag in engagement with one of the ties of the track thereby stopping the car. The rack 14 will be moved far enough so that its rear teeth 15 will mesh with, the teeth of the gear 4 and thereby supplement the spring 18 in forcing the abutment down into engagement with the ties of the track.

,When two cars are moving down an inclined plane, the hand grip of the lever 23 is released so that it is free to be manipu this is the case, and should something unforseen happen to the usual brake mechanism of the car so that it would not be under control of the operator,'the operator may manipulate the lever '23 by disengaging the dog from the quadrant and moving the rod 16 so as to move the slide 14 in the direction of the arrow 0:, the spring 18 assisting materially in carrying out this movement- As before stated the gear '7' would be rotated throwing the drag device downwardly against the action of its spring 11, causing it to engage one of the ties of the track. The guide 13 is secured in any suitable manner to the supports 13 which depend from the longitndinally extending guides 14. The rack 14: is provided on its upper edge with lateral flanges 15 which engage the upper ends of the supports 18. The edges of the lateral flanges l5 engage between the 'guides 14, so that together with the guide 13 (which engages in the slot 14" of the rack) the rack is guided in its movement, when the two cars separate.

he invention having been set forth, what is claimeo as new and useful is 1. Tn a safety appliance for mining cars, the combination with a car body having sup porting wheels therefor, of a shaft mounted in bearings of the bottom of the car and having a drag device, tcnsioning means therefor tending to hold it in a raised position, a slidable member mounted in guides on the bottom of the car and having opera-- tive connections with the shaft, and means connecting the slidable member to a car ahead, whereby upon the severing of said connecting means, the slidable member will more to actuate the shaft and move the drag device in the path of one of the ties of the track, the axle of one set of supporting wheels having means to be engaged by sa l member when moved, thereby supplementing said tensioning means in forcing the drag device down into engagement with the ties of the track.

2. In a safety appliance for mining cars, a car body having supporting wheels, one of which has a gear movable therewith, a shaft mounted in bearings on the bottom of the car, a drag device movable on said shaft, tensioning means therefor to hold the drag device raised, and tensioned means connected to a car ahead and operatively connected. with said shaft and adapted to operatively connect with said gear whereby the drag device may be actuated dow.n wardly LO engage the ties of the track.

3. In a safety appliance for mining cars, a car body having supporting wheels, a shaft mounted in bearings of the bottom of the car, a safety abutment movable with said shaft, means for holding the abutment normally raised, ;-uides on the bottom of the car, a rack mounted in said guides and geared to said shaft and adapted to operatively gear with one of tl wheels when moved, tcnsioning means for said rack, and means connecting said rack and a car ahead whereby upon the disablement of said connecting means, the tensioning means will actuate to operate the rack which in turn will impart motion to the shaft.

In testimony whereof I hereunto allix my signature.

ANDY M. SHANDOR.

supporting i, 

